Links: Citi Field, Derek Lowe, Will Ohman and Rickey Henderson!

Here's some links to peruse while you ponder why Rickey Henderson's helmet always looked 3 sizes too small:

1) Eric Simon at Amazin' Avenue takes a look at how pitcher-friendly Citi Field will be. He interviews Greg Rybarczyk of the excellent home run tracking site Hit Tracker Online, who summed up his take on Citi Field in the Hardball Times Annual 2009 by writing:

"Citi Field, the new ballpark for the New York Mets, is poised to become MLB's new Grand Canyon." - YIKES!

2) Matt Cerrone at MetsBlog reports that today's meeting between Omar Minaya and Scott Boras (agent for Derek Lowe, Oliver Perez, and Manny Ramirez) went well. Apparently, they only discussed Lowe and it looks like it will take some kind of 4th year option to secure the tall sinkerballer.
***EDIT***: Anthony DiComo of mlb.com now says Minaya spoke with Boras about Lowe, Perez, and Ramirez. Maybe a package deal for all 3?

3) David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via MLBTradeRumors) writes that free agent lefty reliever Will Ohman prefers to stay with the Braves "if offers are equal, etc." . This is code for "I'll sign wherever the money is." Last week I wrote at Mets Geek that the Mets need to sign another lefty reliever, just in case Pedro Feliciano gets hurt or is ineffective. Ohman is my top choice, especially because he's not just a lefty specialist - he held righties to a .700 OPS against in 2008.

4) Atleast one Hall of Fame voter left Rickey Henderson off of his ballot. This is sheer lunacy - even the biggest haters have to admit that Rickey is a no-doubt first-ballot Hall of Famer. Check out Home Run Derby's compilation of the published HOF votes by sportswriters across the country. It's a quick and easy way to see which voters have a brain and which don't. Hint: anyone who votes for Jack Morris and not Bert Blyleven is brainless.

Free agent market should pick up

Tim Dierkes at MLBTradeRumors foresees a busy week of free agent signings, as over 150 players are still currently unsigned. Pitchers and catchers can report on February 14th, so Tim is probably right. Many of these players will have contracts before then. Here is a partial list of players I think the Mets will atleast consider signing:

Starting Pitcher
Jon Garland
Derek Lowe
Odalis Perez
Oliver Perez
Tim Redding
Ben Sheets
John Smoltz
Randy Wolf

Relief Pitcher
Joe Beimel
Juan Cruz
Eddie Guardado
Will Ohman
Dennys Reyes
Brian Shouse

Infield
Joey Cora
Mark Grudzielanek
Orlando Hudson
Ty Wigginton

Outfield
Bobby Abreu
Rocco Baldelli
Pat Burrell
Adam Dunn
Manny Ramirez

Omar: Say NO to Jason Varitek

I feel the need to shoot down one Mets offseason rumor. Jon Heyman wrote in his offseason blog:

"Should the Mets find a deal for their catchers, longtime Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek, a free agent, could be a possibility for them. Mets GM Omar Minaya has always liked Ivan Rodriguez, but it isn't known whether they'd consider I-Rod, as well."

First off, how worthless is the sentence about Rodriguez? It adds nothing. He might as well write: "Omar Minaya has always liked sushi, but it isn't known if he'd consider it for dinner tonight." Second, if the Mets trade 32 year-old Brian Schneider or 32 year-old Ramon Castro and sign 36 year-old Jason Varitek, I might just give up. Here are some relevant stats:

There is no logical reason to do this. Schneider is set to make $5 million each of the next 2 seasons, and Castro costs $2.5 million next year. Varitek would likely cost more than that. Why trade a guy, only to replace him with a worse, more expensive player? Last time I checked, old catchers like Varitek don't often experience a career renaissance in their late 30's. The Mets got league average production from the catcher position this year. There are other areas to worry about.

Baseball's Offseason: the "Hot Stove"

I've received a couple emails suggesting I provide updates on which players the Mets seem to be targeting this offseason. The main reason I don't is because other sites are much more capable of providing this information. The following are 3 of the best sources of this "hot stove" info:

- MetsBlog

- MLBTradeRumors

- Ken Davidoff's Baseball Insider column

All 3 post multiple times daily about the day's developments. MetsBlog is the best source for strictly Mets related items. As I have written previously, I won't make posts suggesting shot-in-the-dark trades, but I will write about trades/free agent signings that are reportedly being discussed or on the table, i.e. the Javier Vazquez post I made last week.

Happy Friday!

MLB Trade Rumors

No, this isn't a post to start spouting off ridiculous shot-in-the-dark trade proposals (i.e. that Carlos Beltran for Robinson Cano and Ian Kennedy nonsense last week), but rather to praise the website MLB Trade Rumors. The website posts daily, linking reports from writers and other guys "in-the-know" who provide generally reliable updates on each team's offseason transactions.

Today, Tim Dierkes of MLBTR posted his suggestions for the Mets. He advocates signing Brian Fuentes over Francisco Rodriguez, going after a Randy Wolf, Derek Lowe or A.J. Burnett, and thinks Raul Ibanez or Juan Rivera for LF is a possibility. I like where his head's at - my offseason recommendations included Fuentes, Lowe and Ibanez. He closes with some wisdom that every Met fan needs to read:

"The Mets have an excellent core for '09 - three good starting pitchers plus Wright, Reyes, Beltran, and Delgado all signed at arguably below-market rates. Minaya just needs to figure out how to allocate his money between a closer (and maybe a second reliever), a starter, and a left fielder."

He's right on the money. The core is terrific (and possibly underpaid). MLBTR and Tim Dierkes' work are now required reading every morning.